Ryan Kennedy's Column

The You Can Play project is helping hockey accept the gay community and encourage participation. The timing could not have been more fortuitous. Just as I was talking to a teen player who had come out of the closet to his team and school, the Burke family’s You Can Play initiative hit the world full-stride, with a public service announcement featuring a cavalcade of NHLers.

The North Dakota nickname has been a point of contention for years, but now the NCAA and the state are locking horns. Fighting Sioux fans, I have some advice for you. Actually, wait – can I call you Fighting Sioux fans? Not sure where the lawsuits are at today.

Anaheim looked all but dead a few weeks ago, but a surge has them in the hunt for the playoffs once again. Luca Sbisa can pinpoint exactly when the Anaheim Ducks turned their season around. At the beginning of January, with the team in a tragic tailspin, the Ducks earned victories over fellow doormats Columbus and the New York Islanders.

If the Columbus Blue Jackets do part with their captain, they sure better be getting a boatload of assets back. The Rick Nash trade frenzy is in full swing and though we must always temper our emotions when such mania strikes (remember Vincent Lecavalier to Montreal in 2009?), it’s definitely worth exploring.

The 26-year-old defender has had a breakout defensive system just when the team needed him to. Some teammates call him ‘Laddy,’ others go with ‘Smidder.’ But ‘savior’ wouldn’t be too far off the mark this season, either.

The two hockey loops have always competed for players, but now it looks as though they'll cross territories. It’s no secret tension between the NCAA and the Canadian League has been high in the past couple years, but just wait until the next few seasons.

While the game isn't the most attractive to hardcore hockey fans, this year's All-Star Game provided some fun moments. Ottawa - You can't expect the NHL All-Star Game to be a compelling, white-knuckle affair. Sure, the score might be close at the end, but drama is not the order of the day.

Even though he's not having a great season, Alex Ovechkin is still a draw the NHL needs on this stage. As the fourth sport in North America’s Big Four, hockey must rely a lot on momentum when it comes to exposure in the U.S. Basketball lockout? Great for NHL momentum.

Not only has Jaroslav Halak the game that made him a fan favorite in Montreal, but Brian Elliott has also been one of the league's best. Don’t look now, but the St. Louis Blues are making things very interesting at the top of the Western Conference. Technically the Notes are fourth, but St.

Even though he's not a point-producer, Shawn Thornton has made Bruins fans fall in love with him because of his rough play. Former Peterborough Petes GM Jeff Twohey recruited a lot of great talent during his tenure with the venerable Ontario League squad, but one story sticks out in particular.

The Anaheim Ducks have struggled mightily this season, but with so much talent, this is just an aberration. Every year there’s at least one completely competent team that, for whatever reason, goes in the toilet.
Take, for example, the Philadelphia Flyers in 2006-07 and last year’s New Jersey Devils.

The Swedes completely shut down the Russian Machine in an overtime win that was the country's first WJC gold since 1981. If Canada needed a blueprint to beat Russia, it came a game too late, as Sweden showed how it’s done in the final game of the World Junior Championship in Calgary.